special command-line arguments that are handled only on the initial launch of Conkeror;

and regular command-line arguments that are handled both on the initial launch of Conkeror as well as on any subsequent invocations of Conkeror when there is already a Conkeror process running.

On the initial launch, Conkeror performs the following steps:

The core Conkeror modules are loaded.

Any special command-line arguments are processed.

Optional Conkeror modules are loaded, as described on the Modules page.

The ConkerorRC file or directory, as specified by the conkeror.rcfile string preference, is loaded, unless the -q special command-line option was given.

Any normal command-line arguments are processed.

If the default action was not suppressed by one of the normal command-line arguments, the URI specified by the string-valued homepage variable (this is a variable, not a Mozilla preference) is loaded as if it were specified as a URI on the command line.

On subsequent invocations of Conkeror when there is already a Conkeror process running, only the normal command-line arguments are processed.

Special Command-line Arguments

-q specifies that loading of the [ConkerorRC] file or directory should be skipped. If this argument is specified, it must be the very first argument given on the command line.

-E <expression> specifies to evaluate the Javascript expression <expression>. The expressions are evaluated in the order they are specified on the command line prior to loading any optional modules or loading the [ConkerorRC] file, and can therefore be used to modify the value of preferences in order to affect the loading process. Particularly useful examples of this argument include

-E 'default_pref("conkeror.rcfile", "/home/bob/.conkeror.js");'

(sets /home/bob/.conkeror.js as the RC file for this session only)

-E 'default_pref("conkeror.loadDefaultModules", 0);'

(skips loading default optional modules for this session only)

-E 'default_pref("conkeror.load.tab-bar", 0);'

(skips loading the tab-bar.js module for this session only)

Normal Command-line Arguments

Normal command-line arguments are processed in the order in which they are specified on the command line.

-batch suppresses the default action of loading the homepage URI. Certain other command-line arguments also suppress the default action.

-f <command> calls the given interactive command in the active window. This option suppresses the default action.

-chrome <URI> specifies to open a new chrome window and load the specified <URI> as the chrome. This option suppresses the default action.

-daemon specifies to start Conkeror and keep it running even if there are no open windows. This may allow subsequent invocations of Conkeror to be much faster because Conkeror will already be loaded in memory. This option suppresses the default action. The daemon-mode.js module must be loaded for this option to be available. (It is loaded automatically by default, but the conkeror.load.daemon-mode preference can be set to false to prevent it from loading.)

<URI> specifies to load <URI> using the function stored in the url_remoting_fn variable. This option (naturally) suppresses the default action. The default value of url_remoting_fn is load_url_in_new_window, which (as its name suggests) loads the specified URI in a buffer that is placed in a new top-level window. You may also want to change url_remoting_fn to load_url_in_new_buffer in your ConkerorRC file; this function creates a new buffer in which to load the URI but attempts to place the buffer in an existing top-level window if one exists.